Welcome John Patterson as Our New CFO

I feel good about it. I’ve been a casual observer of the esports industry from a distance. My brother is a huge League of Legends fan. He introduced me to this world, back when Team SoloMid was having their run a few years ago. The esports industry sort of fascinated me. It’s something that’s right on the cusp of being really huge. So I’m excited to be a part of the industry and part of this team, right when it’s hitting that tipping point.

I know TL has built an amazing track record over the past few years, especially with League of Legends wins and the incredible success of their CSGO team. It’s exciting to be a part of what is easily considered the number one franchise in the esports industry. That’s super exciting. What I want to do is take that set of expectations of being the top, and apply that to some of the infrastructure to help build the company to scale, reaping the benefits of that standing.

I didn’t have a lot of TL knowledge, but I got to meet both Steve and Victor [our co-CEOs]. Getting to know those guys in particular… They’re both very impressive. Very smart and intelligent guys. I think that was really a selling point for me. Hearing about their vision, how they built the Liquipedia community. How all the teams came together. It’s a really interesting story. It’s been very powerful. I can feel their passion and see their vision for what they want this to become. And it’s very exciting to be a part of it.

A lot of this is about taking the company and building it to scale. The basic goals are to bring in more revenue. Right now, TL relies on outside investment. We want to build a company that is self-sufficient. Over the next couple of years, I want to help support Victor and Steve in terms of bringing in new revenue opportunities and growing the revenue base at Team Liquid.

Right now, my focus is on learning all the different aspects of the business. I want to get to know as many people as I can, including department heads and stakeholders. I’m seeing where there are opportunities to organize the business a little better. I’m looking to take advantage of growth opportunities.

These are things TL is getting into, but let’s put fuel on the fire and take it to another level.

Growing up, I played a lot of games as a kid. I was a casual gamer, but I grew up playing everything from Street Fighter and Double Dribble to all the Mario games with my brother. We moved to PC games when it became more popular.

Certainly League of Legends. I didn’t necessarily have interest in CSGO until I got here. I got sucked in by the team’s success a little bit. That’s been interesting. I’m excited to dip into the whole run of games and teams that are here. But LoL is what I’m most familiar with.

I’d get destroyed, but I’m here for it!

I have. It’s amazing. What a perk, man!

He made a fried chicken sandwich that was just amazing. It was the best fried chicken sandwich I’ve ever had. It was great.

Those guys are all getting ready for Worlds so I haven’t met those guys yet, but I was at the semi-finals and saw that match against Clutch Gaming live. That was super exciting. It was fun to see. Everyone was expecting Team Liquid to blow them away. But Clutch gave them a super exciting match. It was fun to be there and see it in person.

I’ve watched a bunch of LoL stuff with my brother, the live streams. But that was the first one I saw [in person]. It was a great introduction to the live events. It got kind kind of crazy near the end.

I’m a big sports fan in general. I follow the NBA and NFL. I played basketball competitively when I was younger. What I noticed was the fandom in esports is just the same. People get really passionate about it. That environment and energy can’t be replicated. You have to be there. Beyond the general acknowledgement of esports as a real fandom, it was that feeling of a real stake. People are on the edge of their seats. For me, when I went, I hadn’t accepted the job yet. It was interesting to still be detached and just witness it all, taking it all in. It was super exciting from that perspective.

Being part of a company at this stage, you can feel the energy and the youth. Not just how young the staff is, but how young the company is. It’s kind of like Team Liquid is going through puberty. It’s a bad analogy, but the company is growing up. For me, I’m excited about applying the passion and culture and excitement - really keeping that energy - while at the same time putting things in place to grow the company. Finding the balance and being a part of that process is super exciting.

I have a little five year old girl who started kindergarten. Most of my hobbies are all centered around her right now. But I like to stay active, I like to play basketball. I’m a big music fan. I like going to a lot of concerts. It’s always fun to go to live sporting events. I’m hoping to go to more esports matches around Los Angeles.

The things that come to mind are getting her into single player games, things with a story. Something with some adventure. That’s the stuff I grew up with. Legend of Zelda had a big influence on my childhood, so that’s probably where I’d start.